An efficient compression of ECG signals using deep convolutional autoencoders

Abstract Background and objective Advances in information technology have facilitated the retrieval and processing of biomedical data. Especially with wearable technologies and mobile platforms, we are able to follow our healthcare data, such as electrocardiograms (ECG), in real time. However, the hardware resources of these technologies are limited. For this reason, the optimal storage and safe transmission of the personal health data is critical. This study proposes a new deep convolutional autoencoder (CAE) model for compressing ECG signals. Methods In this paper, a deep network structure of 27 layers consisting of encoder and decoder parts is designed. In the encoder section of this model, the signals are reduced to low-dimensional vectors; and in the decoder section, the signals are reconstructed. The deep learning approach provides the representations of the low and high levels of signals in the hidden layers of the model. Hence, the original signal can be reconstructed with minimal loss. Very different from traditional linear transformation methods, a deep compression approach implies that it can learn to use different ECG records automatically. Results The performance was evaluated on an experimental data set comprising 4800 ECG fragments from 48 unique clinical patients. The compression rate (CR) of the proposed model was 32.25, and the average PRD value was 2.73%. These favourable observation suggest that our deep model can allow secure data transfer in a low-dimensional form to remote medical centers. We present an effective compression approach that can potentially be used in wearable devices, e-health applications, telemetry and Holter systems.